Monday, May 1, 2017

Oh Dear, Those N-n-nasty Trads Are at it Again

Edit: every few months a post appears in some of the more well travelled fora, like the leftist Patheos, for example, where a Catholic commentator takes aim at the "legitimate aspirations" of the shellshocked survivors and refugees of the liturgical revolutions and almost universal heresy with the accompanying social decay and disappearance of what were once vibrant Catholic communities. The author of the blog expects, we suppose, that certain parties among the clergy who try to implement Summorum Pontificum, are beyond reproach and that when they fall short, as they sometimes do, they do so in good will, or at least deserve the benefit of the doubt. Understandably, lacking concrete examples, we don't necessarily have a lot to go on concerning the legitimacy of these complains, but we can point an accusing finger of blame at who are supposed to be the usual suspects. Who should bear the blame if the faithful Catholic layman seems threatening, unpleasant and ungrateful?
Let's assume that faithful Catholics are as uniformly as described. So what? If they don't participate in parish life, is it entirely their fault? Is it perhaps possible that the NO laity themselves resent the large families of faithful Catholics and their "strange" and somber attire, suits, mantillas, and their silent, prayerful, modest demeanor at Mass, while the NO poppinjay himself, noisily and thoughtlessly promenades through the church on his way to some event or other, from which they, with an equal amount of carelessness and indifference, tacitly exclude faithful Catholics? We understand that priests of a certain mindset might take issue with the lack of actuosa participatio, but did they really understand what motivates the faithful Catholic in the first place? It's amazing how much fellowship once upon a time developed in the muddy ground outside our country church where local farmers would stand and chat cheerfully for hours in the mud and drizzle after Sunday Mass, but we digress.
If the long-suffering Catholic laity don't like particular things about a the Liturgy celebrated by "enthusiastic" clergy, is it necessarily the case that a faithful Catholic who is concerned about a doctrinal or liturgical misstep, lacks a legitimate point? How about some charity? Why does the writer presume that the faithful laity are always in the wrong while the "enthusiastic" clergy always right? It's a twisted kind of clericalism, which in reality justifies the worst kind laicism.
Yes, Catholics who are allowed to have "legitimate aspirations" are sometimes strident, perhaps they are unreasonable, but even when they are unreasonable, does that vitiate those aspirations, and perhaps require an earnest reassessment as to whether those aspirations should be allowed in the first place? This is right around the corner, believe us. They will now say, we've tried, but it didn't work and those people were so mean, hypocritical and pharasaical, truly embarrassing if you ask us. Why couldn't they be more like our communicating adulterers and protestantized, religiously indifferent sheep....
Frankly, the kinds of things that Boniface complains about in his blog below are pretty mild. Is it really so bad if the clergy hears a needed or a thoughtless and strident correction? At least they're paying attention. We regularly get annoying emails, and occasional death threats at this blog and field annoying comments that don't seem well-intended by an ungrateful public. So what, it goes with the territory. By the way! Some of you really are annoying!
In any case, if one is so frightened, put out and annoyed by the faithful laity airing its views, especially when they generally make more sacrifices to attend a Holy Mass on Sunday than the more cheery and fun-loving parishioners, perhaps one is unsuited to his vocation? Rather than whine about the laity complaining when one falls short in one's duties, why not look within and ask, "where have I gone wrong?" Why not rather look at the senior clergy who frequently wipe their lips and say they have done nothing wrong?
Since we're not naming names, perhaps a belligerent laity is a just reward and a symptom which addresses what we've been noticing over the years, the indifference if not indifferentism of the Roman clergy in the Western world.
"Sobering" comments by priests that just confirm the kinds of confabulation Boniface has always had, that trads just aren't the right sort of people. I can just hear him now, "the Latin Mass, in fact, the Catholic Church would be jolly good if it weren't for the laity."

[Unam Sanctam] I had a chance some time ago to speak to two different priests on the question of Summorum Pontificum and the traditional Latin Mass as it is celebrated by diocesan priests and regular parish churches. Both had eagerly embraced Summorum Pontificum upon its issue in 2007. Both were eager for the traditional liturgy and Catholic tradition. I wanted to know how things had gone for them over the past ten years. The discouraging nature of their answers was sobering.

The first priest was a seminarian when Summorum Pontificum was promulgated. He always had a deep respect for Catholic tradition and the traditional liturgy. Like many other traditional-minded seminarians, he had to kind of keep his head down throughout seminary. He maintained a respectful silence in the face of progressive indoctrination, did his required reading by day but studied Aquinas and the Fathers by night, and practiced penance privately while his fellow seminarians were spending their free time watching movies. He is a good and gentle soul. When Benedict XVI issued the motu proprio, he was excited to make himself available to the faithful to celebrate the traditional Mass.

After ordination and his first parish assignment, this priest was generous in promoting the traditional Latin Mass and offered it to a "stable group" on a semi-regular basis.

27 comments:

I dabbled in the TLM, it's at 12:30 in my diocese and sometimes I would prefer to go to the earlier 10am Novus Ordo. What pushed me over the edge into full time TLM was the day they had Filipino native dancing down the ailes at the presentation of the gifts. Lovely, just not for during the mass. Also the priest at the parish would say in a creep voice when he elevated the host "allll eyes on Jesus". That's an addition to the mass as far as I can tell which he's not allowed to do. After that I was done with the novus ordo for good.

We're the problem, eh. My son had his first Holy Communion this past weekend in the novus ordo rite. In those two hours I experienced gum chewing like a horse,mothers and other women with dresses cut up to their rear ends along with plunging neck lines and sleeveless dresses. There were also the tattoos and body piercings etc. Yeah, the problem in the parish is all us trads. It is to laugh.

The bee in his bonnet is probably the desire to fit in with the cool kids, as it were. The 'I have lots of black friends ' thing. I hate those nasty trads too,etc, etc. These people are the same as those who turned on Wolsey, St John Fisher and St Thomas More. Whatever is fashionable, that is their opinion also.

It will end when 1) the Holy Father reveals the Third Secret of Fatima, I.e. the exact words of Our Lady NOT the vision and 2) the Holy Father and all the bishops consecrate Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Then we will have true peace.

So our entire future and eternal salvation depends upon a private revelation in Portugal circa 1917?!?!?Anything after the death of St.John on the island of Patmos is private revelation.It doesn't matter if 2 Billion ppl see the apparition.

So attack me for asking a question and if I respond all hell breaks loose.I didn't use a strawman argument.You made the statement "It will end when 1) the Holy Father reveals the Third Secret of Fatima, I.e. the exact words of Our Lady NOT the vision and 2) the Holy Father and all the bishops consecrate Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Then we will have true peace." I responded with a legitimate question.I realize txt conversations can easily be misunderstood and I wasn't being sarcastic.Sorry you took it that way.Also,Gnostic has more than 1 definition.There were Gnostic sects in the early church who openly clung to secrets similar to freemasonary.Only those who were "elevated" would the supposed secrets be given to.You're correct in stating Gnostic can mean something else.Peace

You can not expect people (usually large families) who travel to a distant parish just to get to a TLM (usually scheduled at an inconvenient time) to participate in that parish's activities, such as cleaning the church, working in the garden or helping organize fund raising for the school and repairs of windows and pews. It's unreasonable and impractical.

We had a TLM for four years in our parish and we coetus fidelium did all that Fr. Z advised traditionalists to do: Volunteer in the activities of your parish. So we did. It's our parish, after all.

We spent time, energy and money replacing Latin Mass paraphernalia that have largely disappeared in the intervening NO years: Pew copies of the Kyriale and Prayers of the Ordinary, Propers chant books, tall candlesticks, a standing crucifix and altar flower vases, regulation triple-folded altar cloths and paraments, and generous Mass stipends to the TLM priest whom we borrowed from another diocese.

In addition, we were active in the normal activities of our parish, the Legion of Mary, weekday NO Mass and Rosary, novenas, 24/7 Eucharistic adoration, and various fund raisers.

Imagine my shock when a man who regularly traveled with his family many miles to our TLM told me out of the blue that he refused to drop a cent into our collection basket because being a Latin Mass purist, it's against his principle to contribute to a NO parish. What's wrong with this picture?

That's where we are as well. We've been boycotting our local NO, even though considering all we are reading, we're in paradise. We must go back. But we don't want our money to go to the diocese, which is all aboard the Francis-train.

His point was Roman Catholics holding fast to the traditions handed down to them (to quote St.Paul) better be grateful for being castigated,scorned,mocked,and relegated to the peripheral edges within their own Church.It was yellow journalism at its finest.

Thanks for the defense of us evil trads. I found that Unam Sanctam article so depressing. I haven't experienced those mean traddies in my few short years of attending the TLM, Ive just heard about them from people like Mark Shea.

I go to a NO parish and I don't see a whole lot of people helping out. Unless you belong to the mother's group and/or have kids in the school you really aren't wanted and that's okay by me. Using the helping out stick to beat a woman over the head who has 6 kids and lives two hours away is just ridiculous especially when we can all see that only certain people run things in the typical parish anyway. MOST people come for Mass and leave so why is the Trad supposed to do more?

This article by Unum Sanctum was complete garbage trash in my opinion.Knock on wood,I haven't experienced these supposed hate fueled orgies of chaotic violence and calumny he so fondly speaks about.Can you imagine him writing something similar about all the Novus Ordo abuses?I won't hold my breath.

Everyone keeps acting as though the post-Vatican II sect headed by modernists is the Church. It is not. We have gotten so used to the slow, incremental abandonment of the true Church that we just assume what we now see is real. It's unfortunate, but all those who are destroying the Church simply occupy traditional Catholic real estate. Thank you Archbishop Lefebvre for maintaining the straight line from Christ and Peter to the present day and for the other trads who maintain the remnant. All the others have veered off into heresy.

I'm anonymous 5:23am poster just above your comment.I agree with you 100% and I am thankful and grateful to Jesus Christ & the Holy Trinity for Bp's Lefevbre,Thuc,Mendez,Hnilica,and the valid Duarte-Costa line Bishops who provide the Sacraments for the faithful!

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